A 14-year-old girl has been found dead in a house in Greater Manchester where a pack of five dogs were said to be "aggressive and out of control".
Jade Lomas-Anderson is believed to have been visiting the property in Atherton, Wigan, where she was found alone with injuries that were "consistent with her having been attacked by dogs".
Police were called to the address shortly after 2pm on Tuesday following reports that a pack of dogs was out of control and a girl had been seen unconscious.
Armed police destroyed four of the dogs and captured the fifth.
Officers, a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance went to the house but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene. Police confirmed they "humanely destroyed" four of the dogs, whose remains will now be examined as part of the investigation.
The breed of the dogs has not yet been confirmed but two are thought to have been bull mastiffs and two Staffordshire bull terriers.
Superintendent Mark Kenny said it was "too early to speculate" about what had happened. "First and foremost, our thoughts are with the family of the girl who has tragically lost her life," he said.
"I understand this is an extremely distressing incident for all concerned, including the community, and we will work hard to establish the full circumstances that led to this tragedy."
A "significant" police presence would remain in the area through the afternoon and evening, he said.
"We will be there to carry out an investigation and address any concerns residents may have."
The incident is likely to reignite the debate about control of potentially dangerous dogs. Four-year-old John Paul Massey was killed by a violent family dog at a home in Liverpool in 2009. Last November a week-old boy died after being bitten by his family's pet dog in Shropshire.
In February this year, MPs strongly criticised the government for "inaction" over dog attacks and poor animal welfare. A cross-party committee of MPs said current laws "comprehensively failed" to tackle irresponsible dog ownership.
Proposals published in February to introduce compulsory dog microchipping in England and extend the law so that owners could be prosecuted if their dog attacked an individual on private property, were "belated" and "woefully inadequate", according to the select committee on environment, food and rural affairs called for the environment department (Defra) .
The Tory MP Anne McIntosh, who chairs the select committee, said Defra's proposals were too limited.
"The Home Office approach to tackling antisocial behaviour is too simplistic and fails to reflect the impact that poor breeding and training by irresponsible owners can have on a dog's behaviour," she said.
"New rules should give enforcement officers more effective powers, including dog control notices, to prevent dog-related antisocial behaviour. Local authorities need to devote more resources to the effective management of stray dogs."
According to the Defra website there are about 8m dogs in the UK and "incidents involving dangerous dogs" are on the rise with eight children and six adults have been killed in dog attacks since 2005. Five of the victims were children under the age of four years.
Legislation does not protect children in their homes or people who have to visit private properties such as healthcare, postal and professional utility workers.
